


Happy

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Bonding, F/F, Fluff, post kh3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 18:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21432616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: Adjusting to normal life was interesting, to say the least.
Relationships: Naminé/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 23





	Happy

**Author's Note:**

> Short, fluffy thingymajig for Namishi Day ❤

“You know…it’s weird.”

“Hmm?”

“Being here now…” Naminé ran her fingers over the brick of the shop they passed by with her free hand, the other firmly wrapped up within Xion’s. “Being able to feel, and see, and hear everything with my own hands, and eyes, and ears. Being able to eat my own foods and visit places whenever I please.”

Kairi had told her that she wanted these things for her.

Eventually. After a long, guilt-ridden silence had finally been broken and she’d accepted that Sora had…done what he did of his own accord. She’d berated herself, trained with Lea and Riku until she was sore and exhausted, and then trained more on her own when she thought no one would see her.

No one but Naminé.

It was on one of those nights, when the sound of weapon hitting wood permeated the air, alongside the smell of sweat and the flash of metal, that Kairi finally spoke.

To herself.

Well…no. Naminé supposed it wasn’t fair after all she’d done to make her own identity—after all _the_ _others_ had done to make theirs—to call herself Kairi’s shadow.

And yet it was around her that Kairi allowed herself to become most vulnerable. It was Naminé who’d seen her cry that night. Who’d heard her confessions and sat beside her and held her until she’d finished.

In the midst of such a private, sensitive moment that Naminé wondered if she really had a right to witness, Nobody or not, that she’d learned Kairi’s feelings on the matter as well. Naminé had made an offhand comment about how she was the best person to vent to in that scenario (though, she felt, she really wasn’t) and Kairi had told her rather vehemently how she refused to let her feel that way. How she wished for Naminé to be her own person with her own memories and experiences.

Ones that didn’t amount to being used and tossed aside.

Which led Naminé to where she was now, living in Twilight Town with the other former Organization members and Roxas’ old friends. The only place that really felt like home. There was too much sadness on the islands, so much so that she felt bad for leaving it behind when Kairi could have needed her more. Riku could have even needed her there, if only for support. The conspicuous gap that Sora had left behind was a bit too much for them though, and Xion and Roxas had both taken Naminé’s hand and urged her to go with them to the one world _they_ considered to be home. It felt…_intrusive_ to them to stay behind on the islands.

And, Naminé could admit, she agreed.

She’d be happy to help when it came to finding Sora again, they all would, but so far there were no leads. Not even her affinity to his memories could help her pinpoint him; he’d simply vanished. Therefore, she was more a hindrance on Destiny Islands than she was a benefit.

And maybe…

Well…maybe she was glad to have the opportunity not to be of help. It was nice not to be someone’s tool when it came to Sora. She knew finding him would be _nothing_ like what Marluxia and Larxene had forced her to do and not even really like what DiZ had expected of her, but the doubt lingered unbidden at the back of her mind. Invasive, petty thoughts that that was all she was good for. That she’d be thrown away again once she achieved that goal.

She didn’t resent Sora for it; of course not. He wasn’t at fault.

But maybe she was glad to be out of his life, unconnected to his fate, for just a little bit of time.

She finally got the chance to be herself. She wanted to find out who ‘herself’ even was.

Baby steps.

She was still getting used to the sensation of being real again. Really real.

It was…strange, having access to Sora’s memories. She remembered nothing of her past life and yet, thanks to Sora, she remembered practically everything. She saw it all through his eyes. And so she couldn’t really say that her life as Kairi was _real_. It was like watching a film: everything happened from another’s perspective.

Here and now, in Twilight Town, she could finally be Naminé. She could finally learn a little about who Naminé was. She could learn Naminé’s tastes, her likes, her dislikes, her preferences, what choices she would make with all the freedom she now had to do so.

She learned, very quickly, that Naminé wasn’t very fond of the color white.

It’d been figured out in a small “girl’s day” shopping trip with Olette and Xion. Xion had found her own style rather quickly, having learned autonomy earlier than Naminé ever had the chance to, and was quickly decked out in a cute, stylish black dress that complemented her so perfectly it sent an enraptured flush to Naminé’s cheeks. Olette had been rifling through clothes, complaining to herself about the “plaid fad” that she must’ve been a part of considering her pants, before finally pulling out something blue and frilly.

It didn’t suit her much. She was more inclined towards warmer, earthier colors. But when it’d been held up to Naminé with a critical eye, both Olette and Xion decided that it fit her like a glove. Literally and figuratively.

Naminé had walked out of that dressing room feeling freer than she ever had. White was such an…awful color that brought back such awful memories. Surrounded by walls of it for a good chunk of her life, and subjected to the horrors within those walls, she didn’t much like constantly wearing it. It was as if she was wearing a reminder. Her old white dress was a relic of the past that she wasn’t keen on carrying with her anymore. To cast it off in favor of baby blue and poofy sleeves and lace bows and a knee length pleated skirt was like being doused in water and washed clean.

Needless to say, she loved that dress. She’d bought more later, having joined the others in their summer jobs in order to give back to the community she now happily called home, but that blue dress was precious to her. The first step towards actual personhood. It hadn’t hit her, gaining a body of her own. She still felt out of place, lingering in a world that didn’t need her with a barely existent identity to call her own.

Now she was starting to form an identity.

Beyond the clothes, she’d found a place to live. A place to belong. Axel, er, _Lea_ and Isa, being adults with enough saved up munny from their time in the Organization that they probably could’ve bought half the town if they so desired, had found a homely house for themselves and Roxas, Xion and Naminé to all live in. They’d chosen a spot surrounded by people, determined for everyone to integrate into society and painting themselves as having moved in from “another town” to start new lives with their “adopted younger siblings”. Needless to say, no one was interested in bringing up the Old Mansion. While it was readily available, it too held uncomfortable memories for almost all of them.

From there, Naminé essentially had a strong foundation to build from. She’d gone out into town to try different foods, what with the others all insisting she give sea salt ice cream a shot (she found that she liked it, but it wasn’t much worth eating every day), even stopping by the new bistro every once in a while for lunch. She spoke with other residents, finally free to do so now that she was no longer in hiding. She browsed different shops in hopes of finding different interests. She learned she was a fan of puzzles and word games. Not so much card games. Television wasn’t an unfamiliar thing to her, but it was novel. She never watched it herself. She could close her eyes and imagine being laid out over a floor she didn’t recognize in a body that wasn’t her own, watching a tv she never encountered while parents she never knew milled about in the background, but these weren’t her own experiences she was remembering. Now she could finally have that to herself. She could pick her own favorite tv shows and find her own favorite movies. She could go out into the Tram Common and watch the outdoor movies with the others. She could ride the tram and shop for groceries and even had her own gummiphone to play around with.

She was _living_. 

It was a breath of fresh air. And she got to enjoy it with those closest to her.

Isa was an…interesting case. She’d never really known him during the Organization days, though she’d encountered him a few times when he accompanied Xemnas. Her last interaction with him had been preparing to fight him off after breaking Kairi out of jail. Yet, despite the bad blood he’d built up with the others, he did seem to be genuinely trying to make up for it. It was…difficult. Things were strained and Roxas and Xion didn’t trust him entirely, and usually avoided him, and there was a tightness in Axel—Lea’s expressions when he spoke with Isa, though he at least made an effort to remain by his side so that he didn’t feel isolated. Naminé had barely an opinion on him, having been used to the mistreatment from nearly everyone—even Lea had been cold to her at one point, and so it wasn’t so difficult for her to be around him. If she could put everything else behind her, he deserved a fair chance as well.

Lea was, bafflingly enough, like having an actual older brother. That coldness she’d experienced with him had been brief compared to the passionate flame within him when it came to his friends. He was boisterous and friendly and fun-loving and maybe even a little overprotective. All the things Naminé would have expected from an older sibling just based on the memories she’s seen and the feelings she’s touched. He allotted an equal amount of time to Naminé as he had Isa and Roxas and Xion, opting to take walks with her in the afternoon or ride the trams with her or even take her to the local school to be registered so that she could have hopes of making even more friends once summer vacation was over. She couldn’t have been more grateful for his efforts to exemplify normalcy.

Especially when she, Roxas and Xion were all such special cases. Where she had another’s memories to fall back on, they had nothing but that year of experience in the Organization. They spent most of their time afterwards the same way Naminé did: locked within another’s heart. They were learning themselves much in the same vein as Naminé.

Thankfully, they were open to doing so as a group.

Roxas’ time in the digital Twilight Town had taught him to fall easily back into step with normal life within that world. He easily made plans to meet up with Hayner, Pence and Olette at the usual spot, bringing Xion and Naminé with him so that they wouldn’t feel excluded…despite the fact that they had no input whatsoever in any of the conversations. Roxas could readily discuss Struggle tactics with Hayner or joke with Pence about what pictures he’d taken of the town or debate with Olette over the topics of the summer homework. He shot off names like Seifer and Fuu and Rai and Vivi and Setzer, expressing surprise when he learned that the former three had all run off somewhere to train (though for what, none of them really had an answer) and that the latter two were still somewhere in town. That Vivi was living in a different district now that he no longer had Seifer’s gang to follow around and that Setzer was still the same old Struggle Snob with his gaggle of fangirls. Whatever that meant.

And so it really just left Xion and Naminé. For as much as Roxas too needed to figure himself out, he’d quickly adjusted and fallen into the swing of things. Naminé and Xion, not so much.

They never really had a place anywhere. Everyone was welcoming and willing to help, sure, but they had no clue what to do with themselves. They had no personal experiences with the goings on of normal teenagers. They’d never set foot inside a school, they’d never run typical errands or did normal house chores. They never had much to their names until now. The closest they’d ever gotten to menial tasks was heartless cleanup on Xion’s end and the endless, mindless monotony of watching Sora’s memory progress when he was still in the pod. The most exciting parts of their lives usually went hand in hand with the most dangerous.

They resolved to break free from that mold. Together. After all, their previous interactions hadn’t been under the most optimistic of circumstances. In learning about themselves, they learned about each other. Naminé learned that Xion liked bright colors and loud, energetic music. Xion learned that Naminé liked activities that stimulated her mind and enjoyed exploring places she’d never been. They took time out of each day to gain at least one new memory of their own. One more piece to the puzzle that was _them_.

Which was…likely how Naminé had found herself in this predicament now.

Hand falling away from the brick, she peeked to the side to find a face nearly identical to her own. There were subtle differences caused by how her heart shaped her replica body, but in the end she, as well as Naminé, still looked like Kairi. And yet she was so wildly different.

Every once in a while, Kairi would text Naminé as she slowly but surely broke out of her self-imposed shell, and every word held a vastly unfamiliar personality to it that only served to prove that in being Kairi’s Nobody, Naminé utterly failed to be _Kairi_.

Not that she minded.

But the differences in Kairi and Xion were easy to spot, clear as day. Kairi was a princess of heart through and through, with kind, calm words and a wisdom beyond her years. Only occasionally did a bit of spunk shine through. Xion, on the other hand, was vibrant. Exuberant. Every word that rolled off her tongue painted a vivid, colorful picture. From every amused comment to every sarcastic quip, Xion constantly held the attention of the room when she had something to say. It used to be buried beneath the burden of a black coat and a manufactured existence. Nearly snuffed out by the amount of pain and loss she suffered. But it’d survived and here in this new life it _glowed_.

Xion was fascinating.

She was wearing her black minidress again to go along with Naminé’s favorite blue one, standing out brightly despite the dark color. Chattering about something or other before Naminé had interrupted her with what was on her mind. And Xion hadn’t even twitched at the change in subject, instead focusing all her attention on Naminé in a soft blue gaze.

It’d inexplicably sent a rush of heat flooding to Naminé’s cheeks.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t quite so oblivious to those sorts of feelings. She understood what it was like to like someone as something more than just a friend.

She just didn’t know how to convey this.

Naminé thought she might’ve been off to a good start, walking through Market Street hand in hand with Xion. A stroll through dusk lit streets that set a mellow, intimate sort of atmosphere.

She didn’t know, however, if Xion saw it the same way she did. If Xion looked at her and saw that their similarities and left it at that. Xion shined so bright as her own person that their origins and their looks faded into the background for Naminé, inconsequential and ultimately forgotten. What did Xion see in Naminé though? Did she see that same spark of individuality that set her apart from Kairi and Sora? Did she see Naminé for the person she was starting to become, rather than the Nobody she used to be?

Naminé hoped with all her heart that Xion did.

It was why this occurred to her in the first place, even now when such thoughts were becoming more and more unnecessary as they became more and more integrated within Twilight Town.

“I agree,” Xion finally nodded in response to Naminé’s words when it was clear she wasn’t going to continue. “It is nice to be able to just…be ourselves. No more running around for other people.”

There were entire speeches buried within those few words. No more hurt, no more sacrifice, no more subservience… The list could go on for ages and Naminé wasn’t interested in lingering on it. Instead she squeezed Xion’s hand a bit…

And a smile lit her face up when Xion squeezed back. It was a spark of hope that Naminé clung to. The hope that in figuring themselves out, Naminé could allow herself to share this newfound individuality with another. With someone who wanted to share something so personal with her as well.

“It’d be nice if everything was the way it should be…” Xion continued, trailing off as a tiny look of regret clouded her eyes. Naminé stroked a thumb soothingly over the back of Xion’s hand.

“It will be. I know it will. Riku will find Sora.” He did back at the castle. And he’d kept an eye on Sora all throughout his journey leading up to the confrontation with Xemnas. He’d protected him, fought for him, fought with him… That sort of bond was admirable, and Naminé believed in it. Riku _would_ find Sora. Eventually.

“When he does, I wonder if things will go back to normal for them too. Now that Xehanort is gone, they could go back to their normal lives on the islands.”

That…was something Naminé sincerely doubted. Just as she and the others in Twilight Town could never forget, she knew Sora, Riku and Kairi could never forget what they’d been through either. They’d never really have a normal life again, no matter how much they tried. And somehow, she doubted they would ever try in the first place. They’d grown up in the normalcy Naminé and her friends were trying so desperately to grasp hold of now. It was more likely than not that they’d leave their home world behind and become full-fledged keyblade masters.

An occupation Lea, Roxas and Xion were more than willing to leave behind. Keyblades caused problems as far as they were concerned. They’d remain ready to pick up their weapons again if ever need be, but they wanted to stay on the ground and enjoy life as Somebodies for now.

So Naminé shook her head.

“I don’t think they will. But that’s okay for them. Their paths just lead to a different destination than ours.”

“You have a point,” Xion smiled. It was mesmerizing. It even brightened her entire presence, as if Naminé was standing next to the source of the sunshine itself. Naminé couldn’t help but smile back.

“You have a really pretty smile, you know,” Xion said next, and Naminé was certain her entire body flushed red. She hadn’t been expecting… She never even thought…!

“I…wh-what…?”

“No, I mean! I mean, uh…” Xion stammered, blushing hard as well. She tried to pull her hand away but Naminé held tight to it, not willing to let this chance pass her by.

“I think your smile is really pretty too!” she blurted out, hoping that it’d nudge the situation out of awkward and towards a more pleasant outcome.

Xion seemed to have been struck silent. Her face flushed impossibly redder and her eyes widened owlishly, lids blinking rapidly as she processed Naminé’s words.

There it was. The hope, at the end of it all. The chance to extend her newfound life into someone else’s hands. The opportunity to share it with the person she’d grown closest to.

Oh, how she _wished_.

“…Do you?” Xion asked quietly and embarrassedly. Looking at the ground now that eye contact proved a bit too much for her.

“I do,” Naminé stated firmly. It was more than a little unexpected to finally delve into this now when all she’d been expecting from this excursion was a little stroll through town and maybe some silent pining between her thoughts. Still, she pressed forward.

She wanted this. For having spent so long only ever wanting a friend, it was almost overwhelming to want something more. Now in a position to do so, however, she wouldn’t let that stop her. _She wanted this_.

“Is…I mean, what does this mean?” Xion asked tentatively. Still staring at the ground. Naminé leaned over a bit, ducking down a short distance to catch her eyes. Still blue and bright and marred with uncertainty.

“What do you want it to mean?”

Naminé hoped, begged that this wouldn’t end with an abrupt “nothing” or even worse, an “I don’t know”.

She wanted Xion to want this too.

“That…” Her hand squeezed Naminé’s tighter. “We get to do this every day. Just us. I mean…I don’t mind if you want Roxas and Axel…and Saïx to join us, but I’d rather it’s…just you and me.”

No other words could’ve made Naminé happier in that moment.

“I want that too.” It felt like her face could split in two with how wide her smile was. Straightening up, she solidified exactly what she wanted out of this outing by leaning in, placing her lips to the corner of Xion’s mouth with a glowing, giddy blush. She wasn’t quite sure she’d have been able to handle a proper kiss—they’d just started _this_ and neither of them really knew where to go from there—but judging by Xion’s joyful chuckle, it wasn’t unwanted.

Xion placed her fingers to the spot Naminé had pecked, still bright red and sporting a besotted smile.

“I…did not expect the day to turn out this way,” she giggled. Naminé found herself laughing along.

“Neither did I.”

The soft look was back in Xion’s eyes now, sparkling with the addition of happiness.

“I’m glad it did, though.”

Naminé couldn’t help but nod in agreement. She figured it’d play out like any other day, ending in them learning yet another new thing about themselves without really making any significant leaps of progress. The fact that it’d gone in this direction left Naminé floating on cloud nine.

Regardless of what’d led them to this point, it was so, so amazing that they’d made it here.

“So am I.”


End file.
